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Local News in Brief : Panel Rejects Plans for 34 Calabasas Homes

The Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission on Wednesday denied a developer permission to build 34 luxury tract homes on a hillside in Calabasas.

The panel voted 3 to 2 to deny Watt Pacific of Santa Monica a zoning change and conditional-use and oak permits needed to build the homes--each of which would sell for about $500,000--on a 13.8-acre site near Dardenne Street and Algonaut Drive.

The land is zoned for 1-acre sites. Watt Pacific asked permission to build one home per quarter-acre and to remove 12 oaks and 150,000 cubic yards of dirt.

"I have a hard time understanding why it was denied," said Tom Dee, director of engineering for Watt Pacific. "We've been a year in design on this thing, and we think we've come up with the absolute best design for the area."

In voting to deny permission, the panel cited residents' concerns that the project would obstruct views and congest traffic.

Robert McCulloch, who has lived near the proposed development site for nine years, praised the commission's action.

Dee said the company will appeal the decision to the Board of Supervisors.